NASCAR Weekly Recap with a few mid-run teams from the 2025 Cook Out 400 plus Trucks at Richmond

Huge night by Austin Dillon and his No.3 Childress NASCAR crew with the win without trouble this time unlike last year after he wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin for the win as now he’s off to the Playoffs.

He had a superb car on top of his pit and tire strategy and boom! Once he touched wood past Ryan Blaney for the race lead, no one could get anywhere near to catch down AD ever since.

Then there’s another Chevy doing so well in the Top 10 for the second straight week by Daniel Suarez for Team Trackhouse from a flying start into a P2 Stage 2 run. 

Although he wasn’t able to maintain battling front row, at least he stayed running Top 7 through the finish line.

Good to see Josh Berry back in Top 10 for Wood Brothers since May who also benefitted from his early race progress. 

There were times where he struggled at restarts particularly Stage 2 but he sure enjoyed the clean air and green flag racing off the back of a caution-free Stage 3 that got the best out of Josh and he ended up 8th.

Nice to walk away with a bit of stage points and a Top 10 finish so he can make the most out of his upcoming Playoffs campaign thanks to win back in March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Tough night by the Toyotas…

And the latest mid-run Toyota placing of the night goes to Erik Jones in the No.43 for Legacy in 26th, two laps down. 

Before we look at Erik, unlucky day for the 23XI cars who fired off well earlier on both on track and off it on pit road. 

It’s a pity that Tyler Reddick got knocked out first by Suarez and later Ty Gibbs whilst leading which is going to be up for debate while Bubba saw his left front tire not being sealed properly following his Stage 2 win.

For Erik, it’s been a slow and steady start at mid-pack especially when his qualifying run didn’t help much from 18th.

He did benefit in Stage 2 at times off the back of a few yellows but then a long green flag run stretch including an attempt on improvements with strategy through those pit cycles also didn’t work either.

25 races gone, one more regular season race to go at Daytona next weekend.

NASCAR Truck Series

While the Xfinity Series had the week off, we also had Truck Series racing yesterday.

From losing the lead in Stage 1 to a successful late race recovery, Corey Heim wins at Richmond on top of this year’s regular season Truck Series drivers’ title.

Stage wins would have been any better but the speed is always there. His destiny awaits as long as he keeps on winning every week, then the championship is his to take and he better hold onto it with both hands on the road towards Phoenix.

Unlucky from Ty Majeski who could’ve won if it wasn’t for that contact with Matt Crafton with 50 to go but back-to-back stage wins not bad plus overall 2nd thanks to his fast No.98 F-150.

It’s been a while since he ran well up top and we know the season isn’t over just yet so plenty of time for Ty to regroup and conquer that championship once again.

This is the series he loves the most as why not stay in Trucks? His vast experience is there to see that reflects his decorated record since he was left out by the then Roush squad at Xfinity level back in 2019 & now he’s counting on that speedy F-150 to lock out Heim once more for race wins.

Special mentions to star-car drivers and a Top 10 placing by a rookie

Great to see Xfinity Series regular at JRM also by Sammy Smith in 4th behind Layne Riggs for Spire. Not only he fired off well, he also had a few goes up front with thanks to yellows and a fast pit crew that got away their solid long run strategy.

Topping that top Spire weekend at the same time joining Sammy was Corey LaJoie in 5th in which he finished out well for that No.77 Silverado “star-truck” team.

The good news is that he will be back more often to drive the last eight races of the year. That means, more front row opportunities coming his way in the hope of securing a race win or two by the experienced Cup Series driver in LaJoie.

And the 10th and final Playoff driver to check in as if it’s in The Amazing Race terms goes to Jake Garcia also at ThorSport following a 7th place finish. 

Being fast in practice and/or qualifying does reflect his good performance who wasn’t bad in Stage 1 followed by a 2nd placed finish in Stage 2 when others chose to do things differently off the back of yellows. Although he would want to stay there more often through the end especially with another yellow or two that changed everything. But at said, a good Top 10 momentum all night long goes to show that he’s done enough to punch his ticket in the Playoffs starting next month.